A friend of mines DRZ400 lost the plot on the weekend while riding the sand in macassar, he switched the motor off straight away but then started it later just for all experts to hear. It still starts and runs but there is something gone wrong mechanical. We will open it up just to look ,is there specifics to look for, timing chain/ valves etc. Exept for a very little smoking it ran perfect. Who is a good source for parts and any thoughts appreciated

A friend of mines DRZ400 lost the plot on the weekend while riding the sand in macassar, he switched the motor off straight away but then started it later just for all experts to hear. It still starts and runs but there is something gone wrong mechanical. We will open it up just to look ,is there specifics to look for, timing chain/ valves etc. Exept for a very little smoking it ran perfect. Who is a good source for parts and any thoughts appreciated

Check the oil both from the sump and first from the oil filler neck on the frame for milky residue. Sand will mean heat at higher rpm's which given the going wrong and then smoking would make me first check if the head gasket is blown due to overheating.

Does it struggle to start now?

Mario @ dirt rider is the guy you want to talk too, great work. shout if you need the number

pretty good on exhaust(noisy aftermarket-but healthy), but noisy by the head/ cam area, touching with the cam cover with my finger its a noisy grinding sound--otherwise healthy with near perfect idling--stripping tonight

pretty good on exhaust(noisy aftermarket-but healthy), but noisy by the head/ cam area, touching with the cam cover with my finger its a noisy grinding sound--otherwise healthy with near perfect idling--stripping tonight

Weird since the cam just spins in the head, no bearings present. Maybe an oil flow problem to the cam area ?

pretty good on exhaust(noisy aftermarket-but healthy), but noisy by the head/ cam area, touching with the cam cover with my finger its a noisy grinding sound--otherwise healthy with near perfect idling--stripping tonight

Sounds similar, but worse, to that problem heddles had. hopefully he'll weigh in on this as well.

No the smoke was a bit of a smokescreen, it doesn't really smoke. XTJoe actually meant that the engine has done some hours. Alec and XTJoe and I had a look at this DRZ tonight. When removing the tappet cover we immediately saw that there is LOTS of slack on the timing chain, that probably made all the noise. Everything is intact up there, no debris lying around, no obvious wear. So we took off the tensioner. It is not a ratchet type, so I suppose it is the earlier wind up & screw type. (Same as my 2007 DR650 in fact.) When we stuck a finger into the open (tensioner) hole, we easily pushed the shoe in and thus removed all the slack on the chain. Looking at the tensioner, we do not see obvious damage. The tensioner pin retracts easily via the little screw at the back/inside. The pin has some ("backwards/forwards") play at full extension - about 1,5 to 2 mm, we do not know how much is normal. Alec will take it to Colin's Racing tomorrow to get some advice.

Get a new tensioner. The later ratchet type. I think the wind up screw type was superseded anyway.

Before fitting fully extend the tensioner. If you stick it in place it should be about a cm from the cylinder when it has taken up the slack. DO NOT FORCE FIT! Remove, reset and fit, then fit the spring.

If it's considerably less than a cm from the cylinder when inserted fully extended you might get a timing chain too.

Logged

"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." (Red Adair)

Get a new tensioner. The later ratchet type. I think the wind up screw type was superseded anyway.

Before fitting fully extend the tensioner. If you stick it in place it should be about a cm from the cylinder when it has taken up the slack. DO NOT FORCE FIT! Remove, reset and fit, then fit the spring.

If it's considerably less than a cm from the cylinder when inserted fully extended you might get a timing chain too.

Thanks Jürgen, a new tensioner was ordered. They will also make sure that the timing is still fine.